1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,960 Well, hello everybody. 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:11,640 Welcome out another podcast. 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:13,440 Got Dave here with me. 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:14,440 How are you Dave? 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:15,440 Well, I'm good. 6 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:16,440 I'm at a little cold. 7 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:17,440 It's the season, right? 8 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:18,440 Yeah, it is the season. 9 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,800 Anyway, but I'm doing better, Scott. 10 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:28,080 Good to be with you and look forward to talking about some seasonal things today. 11 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:29,920 Yeah, I'm excited about that. 12 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,720 You don't sound like your cold's taken too big of a toll on you. 13 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:34,720 I know you. 14 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,440 Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better than I was last week. 15 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:42,160 When I talked to you last week, you sounded like, I don't know, like you could sing bass 16 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:45,760 for a bluegrass band maybe or something. 17 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,960 Last week, you know, middle of the week, I went down to St. George actually, played a 18 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:56,440 little golf at Sand Hollow and that helped me kind of, I think, get better. 19 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:03,640 I think sometimes having a cold, I almost get better going and sweating it out or walking 20 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:09,760 it off or whatever, then it seems like laying down, I just get weaker. 21 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,280 If I lay down, it puts me in my head too long. 22 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:18,040 That's not a safe, that's a pretty rotten neighborhood sometimes to be in, is in my 23 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:19,040 own head. 24 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:20,040 Yeah, yeah. 25 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,160 So, Deb and I just got back from being down south as well. 26 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,880 We were down at the, it's called the National Finals Rodeo. 27 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,080 It's kind of like the Super Bowl of Rodeo and all the top athletes from all over the 28 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:32,840 world and it was kind of fun. 29 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:34,440 We had a great time down there. 30 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:35,640 You go down every year. 31 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,520 Every year, yep, every single year. 32 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:43,040 It's a fact in fact, this is the first year that I haven't ridden the mechanical bowl 33 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:44,040 on my birthday. 34 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:45,040 Oh really? 35 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:46,040 Yeah. 36 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,600 Just, I think at the age of, I'll be 59 tomorrow actually. 37 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,960 Yeah, your birthday's this week, tomorrow huh? 38 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:59,320 I guess that, you know, at this age I think I'm just, maybe I got smarter, I don't know. 39 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,320 Yeah, that's probably a good thing. 40 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:02,320 Did you ride it though? 41 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:03,320 No, I didn't. 42 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:04,320 You didn't even ride it? 43 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:05,320 No. 44 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:06,320 Okay. 45 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:07,320 No, first time. 46 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:08,320 You're probably wising up. 47 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,800 Maybe you're getting smarter taking your 59 years to figure that out. 48 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,800 Yeah, I guess that's a stretch, but I don't know. 49 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:15,800 We'll find out. 50 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:16,800 Happy birthday tomorrow. 51 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:17,800 Thank you very much. 52 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:19,080 It's almost Christmas. 53 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,080 Christmas is just around the corner. 54 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:22,080 Yeah, so sweet. 55 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:28,040 It's a pretty important day in the world of Christendom, no doubt, and because of the 56 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:36,240 commercialism of it too, I guess it's a pretty important day to everybody for the most part. 57 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,640 But we're going to spend a little bit of time focusing on some of the symbols of Christmas 58 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:44,000 as we dive in today's podcast. 59 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,200 You know, we've talked about this in the past and I think Dave and I both feel the same 60 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:50,480 way, but I love Christmas. 61 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:51,480 I really do. 62 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,400 I remember Christmas as a little boy. 63 00:02:54,400 --> 00:03:00,960 Actually, as a little boy, every year we would go to what was David's house at the time, 64 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:06,040 my grandma and grandpa's house on Christmas Eve and have this huge celebration. 65 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:12,920 Food, cousins, presents, the nativity, and that nativity was really cool because each 66 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:20,400 year it was like I was the third oldest grandson, so I got to be Joseph number three. 67 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:27,720 But, you know, we grew up a whole bunch of grandkids and kids and I think that tradition 68 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,880 is kind of, we're doing it now in our home. 69 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,440 Yeah, we do too, Scott. 70 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,000 Yeah, Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. 71 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:44,840 In fact, I don't know quite how to describe this or how to talk about this in the right 72 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:53,640 way, but I often, Scott, think that Christmas is more than a holiday. 73 00:03:53,640 --> 00:04:00,120 It can somewhat be a measure of our life and how we live it. 74 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:07,240 I mean, how we choose to live it, how we choose to see it, the feelings that we have during 75 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:17,960 Christmas is somewhat a sign, maybe a little bit of a magnification of how we see things 76 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:24,520 and feel things, not just during Christmas or this Christmas season, but throughout all 77 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:25,520 of the year. 78 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:32,400 In fact, again, I don't know if this is right or wrong or good or bad, but so many times 79 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:38,880 when I meet people, I don't know why I do this, Scott, I know it's really weird and 80 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:46,600 must be probably just a singular thing that's unique to me, is that I often ask myself, 81 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,920 I wonder how they celebrate Christmas. 82 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,240 I mean, this could be even strangers that I might see. 83 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,120 This could be in June. 84 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:03,360 This could be in June and I meet somebody in Iowa and I think, I wonder how they celebrate 85 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:04,800 Christmas. 86 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,200 And sometimes I'll drive past a farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. 87 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:14,320 I would do this in Minnesota and Wisconsin or wherever I traveled out in the Midwest 88 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,080 and I would sometimes just think, again, this could be in the summer or any time of the 89 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:24,840 year and I would think, I wonder what goes on in that house during Christmas. 90 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:28,960 I ate at a restaurant not very long ago, no, three or four months ago. 91 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:35,200 I was in a restaurant that they had turned a house into a restaurant and I was sitting 92 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:41,680 in the restaurant, just Chris and myself, and I said to Chris, I'll bet they had some 93 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,720 great Christmases in this house. 94 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:54,120 I don't know why it is that I think so much about Christmas other than I think it's true 95 00:05:54,120 --> 00:06:05,080 for me and I wonder if it's true for others that Christmas is something of a, more than 96 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:11,920 all the symbols that make up Christmas, Christmas itself can be something of a symbol of our 97 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:13,600 life. 98 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:25,000 How we see Christ, how we see celebrations, how we see the world, how we, I don't know, 99 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:31,600 I just think Christmas is a lot more than just celebrating the birth of Jesus. 100 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:38,760 I think it has so much to do with our relationship with Him throughout the entire year. 101 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:45,880 I don't drive past homes in the Midwest and think what would Christmas be like in there? 102 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:50,120 But I think that's super cool, maybe I will now that you've said that. 103 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:55,480 But what I do, there have been a lot of Christmases in my life, most of them growing up, all of 104 00:06:55,480 --> 00:07:01,440 my Christmases growing up were magical for all the right reasons too, for all the right 105 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:02,440 reasons. 106 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:08,240 We learned about Jesus, we celebrated Jesus, it was for all the right reasons. 107 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:15,360 But when life got, life-ing in my case, later in life, when I say later in life, I mean 108 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:22,120 like in my early or late teens and through my 20s and even in my early 30s, Christmas 109 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,600 has changed. 110 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,960 When you were just saying all of that, it kind of occurred to me that I guess I could 111 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,040 use Christmas as kind of a metric almost. 112 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:35,760 A metric, that's a good word. 113 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:36,760 As how my life is. 114 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,000 Yeah, a measurement. 115 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:39,000 Something of a measurement. 116 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:40,000 Yeah, yeah. 117 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:41,640 Where, you know, like for example. 118 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:42,640 An assessment. 119 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:49,960 For the last 20 years since I've been married to my angel wife, Deborah, and we celebrate 120 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,880 Christmas together, it's been different and it's been amazing and it's back to those old 121 00:07:54,880 --> 00:08:00,840 magical wonderful, but there have been Christmases prior to that, especially in the years that 122 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:09,760 you know, I was drinking and drugging and living my life without the, outside of the 123 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,000 will of our Heavenly Father. 124 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,480 And when I was doing that, there were some of those, and they were metrics too. 125 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:21,240 You know, I would come up to Christmas and it would be a stark reminder of all of the 126 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:22,800 garbage in my life. 127 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:27,600 And those were kind of, even though there was joy in them because I had the memories 128 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:34,200 and I had the imprint of the Spirit and all of that, which didn't go away, but it definitely 129 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,440 became clouded during those periods of time. 130 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:42,040 And I love now that as Christmas comes, I don't have to feel that way anymore. 131 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:46,840 There was a lot of anxiety, there was a lot of financial stress too, which didn't help. 132 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,520 And you know, and there was all of that. 133 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:55,760 And today, you know, it's just different because, and I think because of what you just said, 134 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:57,960 it is definitely a measurement. 135 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:03,160 It's a way I can measure my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus. 136 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:07,920 It seems like it's the best of times and it can be the worst of times. 137 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:16,860 I mean, people who have lost loved ones, Christmas time can recall how much those loved ones 138 00:09:16,860 --> 00:09:19,580 are missed. 139 00:09:19,580 --> 00:09:27,600 People who are lonely become even more lonely this season of the year. 140 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,500 It's the best of times and it's the worst times. 141 00:09:29,500 --> 00:09:37,460 But in all times, Scott, if Christ were more the center of it, you know, I just sometimes 142 00:09:37,460 --> 00:09:42,440 we just say the word Christmas and we should say it Christmas. 143 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:47,380 I wish we would just kind of pronounce it even differently. 144 00:09:47,380 --> 00:09:56,820 So many people don't really daily or hourly during the season see Christ in Christmas. 145 00:09:56,820 --> 00:10:04,600 They love the lights, they love the symbols, they love the giving and the receiving of 146 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:10,680 gifts and all that goes on and all the traditions and all the songs and all the carols and music 147 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:14,160 and all of that we love. 148 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:21,760 But if we don't see Christ in all of that, in every bit of that, then we're missing out 149 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:27,440 on the real joy and peace and reason for the season. 150 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:34,620 When I was in first grade, Greenwood Elementary, American Fork, Utah, I'll never forget first 151 00:10:34,620 --> 00:10:35,620 grade. 152 00:10:35,620 --> 00:10:36,620 How old are you in first grade? 153 00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:39,160 Six, seven, somewhere in that. 154 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:46,920 I'll never forget that it was around Christmastime and Mrs. Adams writes Christmas on the chalkboard. 155 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:48,980 It was during Christmastime. 156 00:10:48,980 --> 00:10:54,980 And she says, I want to teach you something extremely important today. 157 00:10:54,980 --> 00:10:57,500 And then she wrote Xmas. 158 00:10:57,500 --> 00:11:04,600 You know, a lot of times people will abbreviate Christmas with an X-M-A-S, Xmas, Christmas. 159 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:09,440 She says, don't ever write Christmas with an X. 160 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,880 She was teaching us that in first grade. 161 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:18,600 It was important to her that as first graders, even, and I know, I don't know if there were 162 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:23,960 or not, but I'm assuming there were probably kids in the class that weren't even LDS, but 163 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,800 they knew about Christmas and everything like that, right? 164 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:28,960 And she's like, it's not Xmas. 165 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,540 We don't celebrate X's birthday. 166 00:11:31,540 --> 00:11:34,420 We celebrate Christ's birthday. 167 00:11:34,420 --> 00:11:36,320 Don't ever. 168 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:43,760 And she was like, don't ever demean the name of Jesus by putting an X where Christ belongs. 169 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:45,960 Sweet, you bring that up, Scott. 170 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:51,360 But actually, X-X was the Greek symbol for Christ. 171 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,160 Oh, well. 172 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,680 You just totally changed my childhood. 173 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:56,680 Yeah. 174 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,200 Well, I think that's cool that your teacher taught you that. 175 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,280 She'd probably get fired for that today. 176 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:02,280 Definitely. 177 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:03,280 Yeah. 178 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:11,160 But actually, Xmas, if you see Xmas, you should see Christ because X was the Greek symbol 179 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:12,160 for Christ. 180 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:13,160 How cool. 181 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:14,160 Yeah. 182 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:15,160 So I didn't know that. 183 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:16,560 Yeah, it's true. 184 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:20,240 And so even Xmas, you should see Christ in that. 185 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:25,040 In fact, I almost, when I see X, I see Christ. 186 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:26,040 Yeah. 187 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:27,040 Yeah. 188 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:28,040 I see Christ. 189 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:29,040 Yeah. 190 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:35,480 And that's the Scottish flag, my great trip I had this year going to Scotland. 191 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:37,920 And the Scottish flag is the X, right? 192 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:38,920 Yeah. 193 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:48,040 And that X is a symbol of St. Andrew, who was crucified on the X in Greece. 194 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,160 And so I don't know. 195 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:56,680 The X can actually be a really powerful religious symbol and is, literally is, the Greek symbol 196 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:57,680 for Christ. 197 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:03,760 Well, I don't know if any of you learned anything today, but I just learned something really 198 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:04,760 cool. 199 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:06,760 Yeah, kind of cool. 200 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:13,080 Either way, though, it was interesting that in a secular environment that we were encouraged 201 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,080 to focus on Jesus even then. 202 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:16,640 That's really cool. 203 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,400 And there are so many other symbols like X. 204 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:20,400 Yeah. 205 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:26,200 There are so many other symbols of this time of year that I think we should see Christ 206 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:32,920 in whenever we see the symbols that I think it would just kind of be fun to review some 207 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:33,920 of those. 208 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:38,880 And I know this probably isn't new to most of our listeners, but I think it's just always 209 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,080 good to think about it. 210 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:48,320 And maybe we can all increase our effort to see Christ in all the symbols that we see. 211 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:54,280 I'm, you know, we live in such a secular world and it seems to become sometimes more and 212 00:13:54,280 --> 00:14:03,400 more secular and I enjoyed a really wonderful Christmas TV show with my sweetheart last 213 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:10,120 week and we watched the whole show and we enjoyed it immensely. 214 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:15,280 And it dawned on me near the end of the show that all the great performers and all of the 215 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:20,280 songs that were sung, not one of them had made reference to Jesus. 216 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:30,360 And it made me kind of sad and it kind of perked up my own self-awareness that I need 217 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:38,860 to do better in even the songs that I listen to, which I have a great Christmas playlist, 218 00:14:38,860 --> 00:14:46,340 but I need to really, even the songs I listen to, make them as Christ-centered as possible 219 00:14:46,340 --> 00:14:48,560 this time of year. 220 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:53,720 And so in all that we do this season, let's think of Christmas. 221 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:59,560 So let's review some of the symbols, Scott, pick one and let's talk about it. 222 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:04,300 Well, you know, before we do that too, let's just extend an invitation right now. 223 00:15:04,300 --> 00:15:09,000 We know that many of you will have symbols that are meaningful to you. 224 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,960 We'd love it if you would share those with us. 225 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:12,320 Yeah, that'd be fun. 226 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:18,520 Send us an email to heredeemsus at gmail.com and share those with us and we may even hire 227 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,080 you to highlight a couple of those in upcoming episodes. 228 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:22,320 So have you do that. 229 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,320 I don't know if I have a favorite symbol. 230 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,520 In fact, I'm sure I don't. 231 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,520 I was just thinking, what's my favorite symbol? 232 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:30,520 What's my favorite symbol? 233 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:35,480 But you know, I think one of the ones that maybe I'll point out, first of all, is just 234 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:36,480 the star. 235 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:42,200 You know, we think of the star, we put it on the Christmas tree and of course it's representative 236 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:48,360 of the star that's shown above Bethlehem, the birth of the Savior and acted as a guiding 237 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,520 star, you know, for wise men and for shepherds. 238 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:58,480 And for all those here in the Americas, you know, Samuel prophesied, Samuel in the Book 239 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:04,520 of Mormon in Helaman chapter 14, he prophesies that there will be a new star and there will 240 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:09,000 be a day and a night and a day as if it were one day. 241 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:14,880 It seems to me, and President Nelson said this actually not long ago, a few years ago, 242 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:22,160 that the whole world would have maybe experienced a day and a night and a day as if it were 243 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,840 one day, that the whole world was lit up by this new star. 244 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:33,480 So I don't, you're right, that was prophesied five years before it ever happened. 245 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,380 And wise men had been looking for it for probably years as well. 246 00:16:38,380 --> 00:16:43,840 And when we talk about next, either today or on our next podcast, I want to talk about 247 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:50,440 the first event, the first Christmas and some of the events and talk about those wise men 248 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:55,200 and possibly see them a little differently than we normally do. 249 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,920 Maybe there were three, but maybe there were 12. 250 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:03,520 Then maybe they weren't just Magi, but maybe they were prophets or apostles. 251 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:08,980 So that'll be interesting for us to talk about on probably our next podcast, Scott. 252 00:17:08,980 --> 00:17:12,200 But I love the symbol of the star as well. 253 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:18,940 To me that was to, if we would follow the star, that would lead us to Christ. 254 00:17:18,940 --> 00:17:24,120 Even in the book of Revelation, the apostle John refers to Jesus Christ as the morning 255 00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:32,400 star, which is the important symbol on the Nabu temple in the windows, in the beautiful 256 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,680 stained glass windows. 257 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:41,040 So the star is definitely not just a symbol of his birth, but it becomes a symbol of Christ 258 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,640 himself being the light, being the light of the world. 259 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:45,640 Yeah. 260 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,520 And when, you know, I think that it can, uh, and it does often for me, you know, when I 261 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:56,440 see that star, Deb and I have a big star hanging out above our garage and people think when 262 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:57,880 they drive by, are you from Texas? 263 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:03,080 No, we just love this door, you know, and this is why, you know, that star reminds me 264 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:09,360 just like the wise men, just like Samuel, the Lamanite, it reminds me to always be looking 265 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:16,040 for him, uh, to, to, to make sure, you know, is my course, uh, headed in towards the star? 266 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,120 Am I headed in the right direction? 267 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:26,160 And very frequently, uh, probably not every day, but, but semi-frequently that star, I 268 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:31,280 hit it as, where does it sound as that star hanging out above my garage that year round? 269 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:32,280 Yeah. 270 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,800 When I see that sometimes I think it's not one with lights on it. 271 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,360 No, it's just a big, big, 272 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:39,360 Big star. 273 00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:40,360 Big. 274 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:41,720 It's a big, yeah. 275 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,240 Like the one on your belt buckle. 276 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:44,240 Exactly. 277 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:45,240 Or the one on your spurs. 278 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,120 Yeah, that way I got all those too, but yeah. 279 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:48,120 Right? 280 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:49,800 And you think about Jesus every time you see those. 281 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,440 When I see the one hanging above my garage, I absolutely do. 282 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,480 I think it's a symbol that we should think about year round. 283 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:56,480 I do. 284 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:57,480 I really do. 285 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,080 When we see stars, we should think of the star. 286 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:02,080 We should. 287 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,360 And we should think of Christ. 288 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:08,800 And to me, it, it does remind me, you know, mariners used it. 289 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:09,800 They used the stars. 290 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:10,800 They did. 291 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:12,240 To, to guide their ships. 292 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,840 Am I using the star to guide my life? 293 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:17,200 And that's a question I should ask myself. 294 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,920 The star of David is the great Jewish symbol, right? 295 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:27,840 The star of David, which really is a symbol of the second David, which is Jesus Christ, 296 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:29,000 the King of Israel. 297 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,000 Yeah. 298 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,160 So, uh, anyway, I think the star, so many. 299 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:34,160 What's one of your favorites? 300 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,320 So many great symbols of the star. 301 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:41,320 Well, let's, let's talk about the candy cane, a simple symbol like the candy cane. 302 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:42,320 Yeah. 303 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:48,920 It's, you know, I've always loved candy canes as a little boy growing up and, and, um, you 304 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,120 know, never really understood or appreciated. 305 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:57,320 I think the, the symbol of the candy cane, which is really a symbol of the shepherds, 306 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:04,120 the, the, the shepherd's crook, the, you know, the, the, them guiding their sheep and having 307 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:10,320 that to be, to be their, some, something of a protection for them as well. 308 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:16,400 And uh, and then to have it be colored, usually red and white, lots of different flavors today, 309 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:23,200 but, but primarily red and white, which is a symbol, always a symbol of red being the 310 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:31,080 blood of Christ and white, the sinless life of Christ and his purity, the purity, uh, 311 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:37,860 the virtue, the, uh, virgin and the virtue involved in the story of Christmas. 312 00:20:37,860 --> 00:20:42,760 So I just, I've always loved that story of the shepherds again, which we'll recount when 313 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:49,600 we talk about the first Christmas later in this podcast or the next, but there's some, 314 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:57,360 I was in Bethlehem, um, I was in Bethlehem many years ago and I was in shepherd's field 315 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:05,220 and we were singing Christmas carols in, in June and, uh, sitting there in shepherd's 316 00:21:05,220 --> 00:21:13,040 field, looking over at Bethlehem, I could see the church of nativity where, uh, many 317 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,560 believe Jesus was born. 318 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:23,440 And I tried to picture there, these shepherds, these young shepherds, some old watching their 319 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,160 sheep by night. 320 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:30,640 Yeah, we'll talk more about that, I guess, Scott, but I've always loved the candy cane 321 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:37,740 because I, I go back to that experience I had in, in the shepherd's field, just outside 322 00:21:37,740 --> 00:21:38,740 of Bethlehem. 323 00:21:38,740 --> 00:21:43,860 And I, it was really one of the most sacred experiences I had in the Holy land. 324 00:21:43,860 --> 00:21:49,400 I'm excited, we're going there in March, uh, with some family members looking really forward 325 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:50,400 to that. 326 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:55,400 You know, when I think of the, uh, the, uh, crook, the, the, the candy cane, that's the 327 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,040 shepherd's crook. 328 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,480 I have a lot of feeling that goes with that. 329 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:04,080 You know, grandpa, your dad was a sheep herder as a little boy, right? 330 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:09,200 And he has shared with me some of his most wonderful experiences being out on the mountain 331 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:14,800 down in, you know, um, Hanksville and various places, and herding sheep as a little, just 332 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:15,800 a little boy. 333 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,840 I, there's no way I'd send my, my kid at that age out to do what he was sent to do. 334 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:22,840 Yeah, no, that's where he got his testimony. 335 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:23,840 Yeah. 336 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,480 He said he was 16 years old. 337 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:32,800 But anyway, so when I think, when I think of sheep, uh, shepherds, I think of the contrast 338 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,760 between a sheep herder and a shepherd. 339 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:35,760 Right, good. 340 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:40,880 Because you know, Jesus was the great shepherd and he would have as a great shepherd used 341 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:41,920 one of those crooks. 342 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,120 Sheep herders don't really use the crook. 343 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:49,200 Sheep herders use dogs and ropes, you know, and, and sheep herding is about force. 344 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:53,560 Sheep herding is about keeping everything together and driving them instead of leading 345 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:54,560 them. 346 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:55,560 Exactly. 347 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:56,560 And you know them as sheep. 348 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,160 Um, but the shepherd knows the sheep's by sheep by name. 349 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:05,280 And the shepherd, um, is out in front and is the leader. 350 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,240 And uh, you know, if one were to get off the path, you know, that crook could be used to 351 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:15,680 kind of keep them safe or to pull them out of a ravine or a ditch or a, you know, a very 352 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,320 dangerous situation. 353 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:24,240 And I see that crook is, is, uh, one of the tools that maybe Jesus uses to pull me a lost 354 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:25,240 sheep along sometimes. 355 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:26,240 And I appreciate it. 356 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,920 Well, he is, he referred to himself as the good shepherd. 357 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:29,920 Right. 358 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,480 And at the door of the sheep. 359 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:37,760 And uh, so you know, you can take the candy cane, not just to represent the shepherds 360 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:44,080 who the angels appeared to and saying, and, and who went to the manger and saw the babe 361 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,720 lying in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. 362 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:53,800 But you can think of the candy cane should again remind us of Jesus himself, who was 363 00:23:53,800 --> 00:24:00,260 the ultimate shepherd and is the ultimate shepherd to each of us as hopefully we see 364 00:24:00,260 --> 00:24:02,640 ourselves as the sheep. 365 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:07,680 Anyway, so I think that's one of my favorite symbols. 366 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:08,880 What's another one, Scott? 367 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,520 Well, how about, uh, how about bells? 368 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,240 You know, let's talk about that Christmas bells. 369 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:22,280 For example, we've got, I remember again as a little boy, my grandpa Fagan, my mom's dad, 370 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:28,480 big time horse guy, big time cowboy had, um, when I was a little boy, we used to have Shetland 371 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:33,840 ponies that we had trained to pull as a team, a big buckboard wagon. 372 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:37,240 And during the winter, you know, we would drive those around and he had sleigh bells, 373 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,640 you know, the kind, and Deb actually, a few years ago, they're hanging right there in 374 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:42,640 my office. 375 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:48,040 And just a few years ago, Deb, uh, I guess maybe 10 bought me those as a remembrance 376 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:49,040 of that. 377 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,880 So, you know, every Christmas morning, even when I was in high school, David, we didn't 378 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:53,880 get out of bed. 379 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,960 We spent Christmas Eve at your house with my Durfey side of the family. 380 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,720 And then on Christmas morning, we didn't get out of bed. 381 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,880 We didn't have to worry about it though, cause he usually came quite, quite early, five o'clock 382 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,560 sometimes, maybe earlier. 383 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,280 And he would, the first thing we'd hear in the morning are those bells ringing, you know, 384 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:12,240 and it's a sleigh bells, you know, I wish I could replicate it. 385 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,440 I should have thought about it, but I'm not going to walk over and grab those right now. 386 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,360 But, uh, but it would be those sleigh bells. 387 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:21,600 We had here, and it would be a, an announcement. 388 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:22,600 Okay. 389 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:24,640 The announcement was grandpa's here. 390 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:25,640 It's okay. 391 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:26,840 Now a call. 392 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,880 It's okay now to come and receive the gifts. 393 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:31,880 And it's a little boy. 394 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,720 You don't think of it that way, but, but that's what the bells represent now. 395 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:36,720 Right? 396 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:42,220 I mean, we, we think about, um, uh, what's, what's quoted in Luke two 14 glory to God 397 00:25:42,220 --> 00:25:46,040 in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill towards men. 398 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:51,280 When I hear those bells, I hear that now as a call, a call to what a call to come receive 399 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:55,920 the gift, the gift of what the gift of the atonement of Jesus Christ, which compensates 400 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:01,600 enables and takes care of all of the other things in our lives that are just not exactly 401 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:02,600 right. 402 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:03,600 I love the bells. 403 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,280 Bells can warn us as well. 404 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,880 Bells were would be used for warning. 405 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:10,480 Jesus warns us. 406 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:15,560 We should all be in preparation for his second coming. 407 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,520 The bells do call us. 408 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:18,520 They do. 409 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,760 The bells are used to make announcements. 410 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:28,400 Um, I love the, I love the symbol of bells as well, Scott, how about the, um, how about 411 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:29,960 the, the holly berry? 412 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,320 Uh, how does that song go? 413 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,520 Scott, I'm not going to sing it. 414 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:41,960 Last time I sang on here, you, yeah, you shouldn't know. 415 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:42,960 That's probably the wrong song. 416 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:43,960 You shouldn't sing either. 417 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:44,960 It's sorry. 418 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,960 It's pine cones and holly berries. 419 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,960 Oh, there you go. 420 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:56,920 Well, you know, the ivy, if you really look at the ivy, it's very sharp and it should 421 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,520 remind us of the crown of thorns. 422 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:00,520 Yeah. 423 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:08,440 And, uh, and then they have these red berries in the holly, in the sharp, sharp holly with 424 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:09,600 pointed needles. 425 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:14,560 They have the red berries, which remind us of his blood. 426 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:20,720 So I think of the crown of thorns and the blood of Christ when I, when I think of the 427 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:25,120 holly, the green holly and the red berries. 428 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:29,400 So I think that's a great symbol and that's on so many Christmas cards and it's on so 429 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:30,400 many wreaths. 430 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:38,020 Wreaths, wreaths themselves, Scott, are a symbol of a circle, meaning eternity, usually 431 00:27:38,020 --> 00:27:47,560 made up of, of, of pine, uh, which is an evergreen, which means that we will never truly die, 432 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:53,960 that we live forever and ever in mortality, which is the Christmas tree itself, right? 433 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:59,200 The Christmas tree and the needles pointing upward and so many great symbols. 434 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:00,920 Well, and that tree and wreaths. 435 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:01,920 Yeah. 436 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,120 That round shape representing eternity. 437 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:05,120 Right. 438 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:08,840 And you know, I'm just looking on the church's website right now. 439 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,400 They actually have some of these 10 symbols of Christmas. 440 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:16,120 And for this one, they actually have a scripture that's quoted from Doctrine and Covenants 441 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:17,120 35 verse one. 442 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:18,120 I'm going to read it. 443 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:23,020 It says, listen to the voice of the Lord, your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning 444 00:28:23,020 --> 00:28:28,080 and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday and forever. 445 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:29,080 Yeah. 446 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:30,280 And that's a representation of the wreath. 447 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:31,280 Yeah. 448 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,440 When you see circles, that's what you should think of is, is eternity. 449 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:40,160 You know, the prophet once took off his ring, you know, and round the ring. 450 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:41,160 Right. 451 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:45,360 There's no beginning and there's no end when you see a circle. 452 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:46,360 Wreaths represent that. 453 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:53,080 I know that on our door at my house, we have this beautiful handmade wreath that my wife 454 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,760 made with many of these symbols on it. 455 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:02,880 And in the center and at the very bottom of the wreath is the baby Jesus. 456 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:11,200 And I just I love the symbol of wreaths as well and hope that we see Christ in evenness, 457 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:19,180 something as simple as a as a wreath, whether it be in the store or on the door or wherever. 458 00:29:19,180 --> 00:29:20,180 What else, Scott? 459 00:29:20,180 --> 00:29:22,760 Well, how about poinsettias? 460 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,440 You know, that's one that we don't sometimes think about. 461 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:31,040 Poinsettias, which, you know, are a plant that thrives this time of year. 462 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,400 It's kind of interesting that that plant thrives in the wintertime. 463 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:42,080 I know many of them come from down south, but it's the redness of it, the shape of it. 464 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,840 This it's kind of in a star shape. 465 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:51,700 The red color, which again should remind us of the blood of Christ and redemption through 466 00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:52,700 his blood. 467 00:29:52,700 --> 00:29:54,600 Yeah, I love I love. 468 00:29:54,600 --> 00:30:00,960 And sometimes the white right poinsettias remind us of the purity, the sinlessness. 469 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:08,720 The virtue that's all symbolized by the by the virgin birth of Christ and the life of 470 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:10,060 Christ. 471 00:30:10,060 --> 00:30:12,480 So that's that's a great symbol. 472 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,960 You know, the other thing about poinsettias, too, is the poinsettias, just like any other 473 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,160 flower, there's they're layered. 474 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:19,640 There's a top layer of petals. 475 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:20,860 There's another layer of petals. 476 00:30:20,860 --> 00:30:24,040 There's another layer of petals typically, right? 477 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:30,400 Typically on a poinsettia, the top layer is five, five petals, you know, and we know that 478 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:36,560 that's a that's a number that's representative of the crucifixion crucifixion of Jesus Christ, 479 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,840 because that was the number of nails that was used to carry out the crucifixion. 480 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,000 Right. 481 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,760 So you know, when I see a point, slight pointed stars that we see, those white pointed leaves. 482 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:47,760 Yeah, yeah. 483 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,160 All of that number five is kind of the atonement number. 484 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,920 So that the number five itself is symbolic. 485 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:56,920 Yeah. 486 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,960 And you know, if you look close enough, you can see that you like you just said, five 487 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:05,840 pointed star, the five petals of the poinsettia, you know, maybe there's others, too, that 488 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:06,840 we're not thinking. 489 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:08,560 The sand dollar, the sand dollar. 490 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:09,560 Oh, yeah. 491 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:10,560 Hey, tell that. 492 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:12,720 So Dave's got a really cool story about sand dollars. 493 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:19,160 I didn't know anything about sand dollars until I married into my Terry family, my wife's 494 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:20,440 family. 495 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:25,160 And I think it was the first or second Christmas early on in our marriage. 496 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:32,520 Our mom and dad would always bring out a sand dollar that they had purchased, you know, 497 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:34,560 since we live here, we're not on a beach. 498 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,880 You can find them, I guess, all over on the beach. 499 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,160 My daughter found one when they were in Florida recently. 500 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:45,760 Anyway, they have the they had a sand dollar and they bring it out and they talk about 501 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:50,920 the five marks representing the the marks, the nails. 502 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:51,920 Yeah. 503 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,320 So on the front of the sand dollar looks like a five pointed star. 504 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:55,320 Yeah. 505 00:31:55,320 --> 00:32:02,040 They talk about the marks of Jesus, you know, the nails of Jesus, the five holes that are 506 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,040 in the sand dollar. 507 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,560 There's a star on the sand dollar. 508 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,320 The sand dollar is actually a sea urchin. 509 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,160 I don't know if people know what we're even talking about. 510 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,600 I don't know what the technical name of this. 511 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:14,600 I don't either. 512 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:20,240 Of this urchin is, but it lives in the bottom of the ocean and and it's usually purple in 513 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,080 color or brownish red. 514 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,560 But it turns white once it's been in the sun. 515 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:25,560 All right. 516 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:29,440 And when it dies and it comes, I think it's illegal to actually catch them alive. 517 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,080 So you can't get one until it's dead. 518 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,420 And when it's dead, it's on the beach and the salt in the sand. 519 00:32:34,420 --> 00:32:39,560 It bleaches out to this white, the color white, which again is a symbol. 520 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:44,840 Anyway, the first time I found this sand dollar and there was a story that went with it. 521 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,600 And I'm going, wow, is this even for real? 522 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:53,200 The first time I experienced this with my new in-law family. 523 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:59,800 And then at the very end, after talking about the star and the something of a poinsettia, 524 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:04,520 the flower that you can see on the on the sand dollar and the five marks, and then they 525 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:14,560 broke it open and they they outcomes five little stone like in the shape of a dove, 526 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:16,560 very small, teeny. 527 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,400 But they said, and these are the five doves. 528 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,920 And I'm going, what? 529 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:23,920 Wow. 530 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:30,800 The symbols of the sand dollar and the five doves, of course, represent peace, the peace 531 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,320 that we all have been promised because of Christ. 532 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,280 My peace, I leave with you. 533 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:42,760 And the dove is also a symbol of the Holy Ghost. 534 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:48,640 So I just I was so taken back by this amazing symbol. 535 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:54,760 And I I'm I'm going to tell my wife, we got to resurrect that tradition because I don't 536 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,120 do that with my kids or my grandkids. 537 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,920 And I want to get a sand dollar before Christmas this year. 538 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:09,060 And I want to kind of start that new tradition in my family is to tell the story and to use 539 00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:13,280 that as a powerful symbol of Jesus Christ this Christmas. 540 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,200 Yeah, that's a fantastic idea. 541 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,040 Not sure where you'll find one. 542 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:22,240 I think you can buy them pretty much in probably get one on online on Amazon. 543 00:34:22,240 --> 00:34:23,240 It's probably true. 544 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:24,240 You buy anything. 545 00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:25,240 Yeah, yeah, that's true. 546 00:34:25,240 --> 00:34:26,800 I didn't think of that. 547 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:28,320 Yeah, that's that's fantastic. 548 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,680 That's naturally a cool story. 549 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:33,360 I hadn't heard that before this morning. 550 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:34,960 Dave says I think you collect them. 551 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:35,960 I did. 552 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:36,960 I did. 553 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:42,920 But when I lived in Seattle, we'd go out on the beach, not in Seattle, obviously, but 554 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:44,800 out on the coast. 555 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,280 And Trevor, when he was just a little boy, would love running up and down the beach, 556 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:49,440 picking up those sand dollars. 557 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,800 And then I remember one time he put them all in a plastic bag and left them in the back 558 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:53,800 of my car. 559 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:54,800 And I forgot about him. 560 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,040 And man, my car stunk. 561 00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:58,120 I guess they need to be cleaned. 562 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,760 But not to distract, though, from the coolness of that story. 563 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:03,880 Yeah, Dave was telling me that story this morning. 564 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,040 I had never heard that before. 565 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:10,600 So I think I'm kind of anxious to try stories and poems that have been written. 566 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:16,440 And I want to make that more important Christmas symbol this year with my family. 567 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,000 What's another one of your favorites? 568 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,720 Oh, how about the lights themselves? 569 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:21,720 Yeah. 570 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:27,120 On the Christmas tree, usually heavy on the red and the green. 571 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:28,120 Right. 572 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:29,120 Yeah. 573 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:30,120 Just the colors themselves. 574 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:31,120 Yeah. 575 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:37,680 The green, red, representing again the blood and the death and the suffering and the sacrifice 576 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:39,840 of Jesus Christ. 577 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:43,040 And the green, representing life. 578 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:49,960 Green is the symbol of life and the eternal life that Jesus, the resurrection which Jesus 579 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:55,380 Christ made possible for all of us that we might have immortality. 580 00:35:55,380 --> 00:35:57,640 So I love those symbols. 581 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:02,400 And then, of course, the white light, which is a symbol of eternity and being the light 582 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:03,400 of the world. 583 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:08,640 And I love the symbols of the lights that we hang. 584 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:13,160 And you could go on blue as a symbol of the Godhead. 585 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:18,220 All the all the colors represent and symbolize different things. 586 00:36:18,220 --> 00:36:23,320 I think that we could definitely relate to Jesus Christ in some way. 587 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:24,320 Yeah. 588 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:28,800 I just, Elder Bednar made a comment about lights one time talking about Christmas. 589 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:29,880 I'd like to read it. 590 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:34,160 He says, many of our memorable and enduring Christmas traditions include different kinds 591 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:35,360 of lights. 592 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:42,080 Lights on trees, lights in and out on our homes, candles on our tables. 593 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:47,720 May the beautiful lights of every holiday season remind us of Him who is the source 594 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:49,320 of all light. 595 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,880 Yeah, pretty profound there, you know. 596 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:57,100 And I think that if there was, I don't know if I even should say this, but if there was 597 00:36:57,100 --> 00:37:02,560 one symbol that probably might be the most important that might, in my opinion, might 598 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,720 be the light, because that is what Jesus is. 599 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:10,800 You know, the light of all the world, the light of everything, actually, quite literally. 600 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,400 And I really love that one myself. 601 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:14,400 Angels. 602 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:15,960 Angels is a great one. 603 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,900 Angels are an important symbol of Christmas. 604 00:37:18,900 --> 00:37:19,900 We see angels. 605 00:37:19,900 --> 00:37:26,040 We sometimes hang them on the top of our tree or we see them again on cards or whatever. 606 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:33,440 You know, the angels proclaiming to the shepherds and proclaiming to us and proclaiming to others. 607 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:39,360 I'm sure throughout the world when Jesus was born, I'm sure there were many who. 608 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,320 Heralding in a new dispensation. 609 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:42,320 Yes. 610 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:43,320 You know? 611 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:44,320 Yeah. 612 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:53,640 And of all of the prophecies, patriarchs and prophets before the 4000 years from Christ 613 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,080 to Adam. 614 00:37:55,080 --> 00:38:00,120 So I think angels is really a sweet symbol. 615 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:07,680 You know, it's we think about it, but I think another one is Christ being born in the manger. 616 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:13,960 The symbolism, you know, he could have the king of all kings born in a manger. 617 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:19,640 Well, that comes that kind of leads us into that first story of Christmas. 618 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:27,320 And we'll talk maybe in more detail, but maybe just to say here that the manger was probably 619 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:29,800 made of stone, right? 620 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:30,800 Not wood. 621 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:38,180 They didn't really use so much animal troughs as we do in a barn here. 622 00:38:38,180 --> 00:38:41,220 Most of their troughs were out of limestone. 623 00:38:41,220 --> 00:38:43,520 It was more readily available than right. 624 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:44,520 Yeah. 625 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:45,680 Yeah, absolutely. 626 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:53,160 And so they would have had probably a stone manger, which the stone, the rock, here's 627 00:38:53,160 --> 00:39:01,440 this baby who is the rock, the foundation of our salvation. 628 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:07,560 You know, anyway, they're somewhat symbol to that to that manger, not only him being 629 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:18,400 born in a lowly place, a poor place who descended below all things right from the very beginning, 630 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,800 but the rock that he's laid on. 631 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:27,000 So the manger is such a great symbol. 632 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:35,680 If I think we really could understand what it was like that first Christmas. 633 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:36,680 Anything else, Scott? 634 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:37,680 Any other symbols? 635 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:43,360 I'm sure there's some of our listeners are screaming at the radio or their phone right 636 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:51,040 now because we're not thinking of all the symbols of Christmas. 637 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:53,000 We really didn't intend this to be completely exhausted. 638 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:59,360 Even St. Nick, I think even St. Nicholas or Santa Claus can be an important symbol of 639 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:00,360 Jesus. 640 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:06,960 But I love this picture, which we hang up every year right after Thanksgiving is a picture 641 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:14,400 of Santa Claus coming out of a home after delivering gifts. 642 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:23,640 And he has his bag on his shoulder and he's kneeling in the snow because there is a picture 643 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,920 or it's not a picture, but a monument of Jesus Christ. 644 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:32,720 It's kind of the Christus monument in this painting. 645 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:39,880 And there is Santa Claus with this sack on his back and him kneeling in the snow worshiping 646 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:40,880 Jesus. 647 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:41,880 Yeah. 648 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:47,320 Then I just dressed in red and white again. 649 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:55,640 St. Nicholas and the old tradition of St. Nicholas saving a family. 650 00:40:55,640 --> 00:41:01,360 This goes back to Eastern Europe where the man who was so poor was going to lose his 651 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:10,400 daughters to servitude or worse forms than that because he was so poor. 652 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:17,640 And how St. Nick drove past this man's house and threw in three bags of gold, which landed 653 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:22,280 in the stockings that were hanging by the fireplace drying. 654 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:27,520 You know, they would put their winter socks by the fireplace to dry them out. 655 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:33,080 And St. Nicholas throws in three bags of gold that land in the stockings at the fireplace. 656 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:43,680 So Santa Claus or St. Nick saving this family from being lost or separated. 657 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,840 And I love that tradition and that thought. 658 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:54,560 So when I see the socks, I think of drying the socks by the fireplace and St. Nick's 659 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,040 saving this family. 660 00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:01,840 And I think that's such an important symbol. 661 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:04,440 So yeah, let's talk about that for just a second. 662 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:05,840 So here's a dad. 663 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:07,360 He's got three daughters. 664 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:08,360 He's losing. 665 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:13,800 He's so poor that he is considering what we would say the unconsiderable. 666 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:19,120 We would never consider in our day and age doing what he was selling out his daughter. 667 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:20,120 Yeah. 668 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:21,120 Yeah. 669 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:22,120 And just so that they could. 670 00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:23,440 And so he was destitute. 671 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:24,600 He had nothing left. 672 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:26,160 Totally, totally gone. 673 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:31,840 And here comes St. Nicholas and for no merit of their own. 674 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:32,840 Right. 675 00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:34,960 They didn't merit St. Nicholas's gift. 676 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,240 They didn't earn it. 677 00:42:37,240 --> 00:42:40,080 All they did was they were entitled. 678 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:42,760 But they were able to receive it somehow. 679 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:49,800 For some reason, opened their windows, which made them open their windows, able, open their 680 00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:52,080 hearts to receive the gift. 681 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:57,440 The windows being the eyes, the heart could be the fireplace, right? 682 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:58,440 Or the window. 683 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:00,840 And here's the here are these socks ready to receive. 684 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,880 And yeah, you know, and that's what we're just asked to do. 685 00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:07,880 We're just asked to receive this gift. 686 00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:12,240 And what a great time as we consider all of the gifts that have ever been given. 687 00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:16,480 The gift of eternal life that's been afforded to each of us because of the atonement of 688 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:18,240 Jesus Christ. 689 00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:19,620 We don't merit it. 690 00:43:19,620 --> 00:43:20,620 We align with it. 691 00:43:20,620 --> 00:43:21,620 Right. 692 00:43:21,620 --> 00:43:23,040 In order to receive it. 693 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:24,960 We don't merit it. 694 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:27,040 And along comes Jesus Christ. 695 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:35,080 And, you know, in the story that you just rendered, along comes St. Nicholas, a representation 696 00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:39,380 of Jesus Christ and gives a gift that they received. 697 00:43:39,380 --> 00:43:41,280 What a beautiful, what a beautiful story. 698 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:46,200 I guess other than the Christ child himself, which is. 699 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:52,160 You know, is the giving of gifts at Christmas that should point us to Christ because God 700 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:58,740 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should 701 00:43:58,740 --> 00:44:01,600 not perish but have everlasting life. 702 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:09,200 And so I guess maybe for me, the ultimate symbol is maybe the symbol of gifts themselves 703 00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:12,280 and the act of gift giving. 704 00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,960 And I think we read this not very long ago. 705 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:21,800 In fact, I think I shared this in our last podcast when I shared kind of my my dream 706 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:26,080 or parable about the gift of the ticket. 707 00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:35,760 But this this passage in Doctrine and Covenants 32 33, which says, speaking of the wicked, 708 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:41,440 this is speaking of really the sons of perdition, they shall return again to their own place 709 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:49,200 to enjoy that which they were willing to receive because they were not willing to enjoy that 710 00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:52,880 which they might have received. 711 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:59,680 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him and he received not the 712 00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:01,040 gift? 713 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:09,640 Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the 714 00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:12,280 giver of the gift. 715 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:20,000 So I this whole idea and practice tradition that we have sacred tradition of giving and 716 00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:27,480 receiving gifts, Scott should definitely point us to Christ, the gift of the father giving 717 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:36,480 us his son and the gift of the son reaching down to us and condescending to our level 718 00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:46,400 becoming a man, a God, creator of the world, Jesus Christ, Jehovah coming down on our level 719 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:55,160 and becoming a mortal and experiencing all of the hurt, all of the pain, all of the injustices 720 00:45:55,160 --> 00:46:05,520 and inequities of mortality, what a gift that he gives us and the great thing that we should 721 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:14,240 always be asking ourselves, I think this season is so, in all of my preparation to give and 722 00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:22,920 receive gifts, what has Jesus given me and second question is and what gift can I give 723 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:23,920 him? 724 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:24,920 Yeah. 725 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:31,000 And when I think of that, Scott, there are so many, I'm sure, great answers of all the 726 00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:37,680 gifts that we could give him, the gift of our heart, all the gifts, but I think of King 727 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:44,920 Lamona's father in that amazing prayer where he says, I would give, when he's praying to 728 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:51,520 the father and he's for the first time learning about God and about Christ from the sons of 729 00:46:51,520 --> 00:47:01,480 Mosiah, specifically Aaron, and he says, I would give away all of my sins to know thee. 730 00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,680 I think what a gift. 731 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:04,680 Yeah. 732 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:12,160 And there's some irony in this. 733 00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:23,640 To give the gift of sin, to give the gift of sin to Jesus makes him so happy. 734 00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:32,440 I think, wow, the love of God, oh, the condescension of God. 735 00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:36,960 To give him our sins. 736 00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:44,720 I don't know, I think that he may see that as perhaps the greatest offering or the greatest 737 00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:51,280 gift that we can give him, to give him a bad habit, to give him our addictions, to give 738 00:47:51,280 --> 00:48:01,880 him our pain, to give him our loneliness, our hurt, to give him all of that and for 739 00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:07,560 him to take it so gladly because he's already suffered it because of the gift that he gave 740 00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:14,760 us is, I think, the essence of the message behind Christmas. 741 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:20,480 It's impossible for me to give that wicked gift without his helping me to give it to 742 00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:21,480 him. 743 00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:25,840 That's the gift he wants. 744 00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:30,440 And I can't give it to him without his help. 745 00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:38,040 Right, until you understand the gift he gave us, then you feel gratitude for that. 746 00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:44,840 That becomes the motivating source and power for us to give him all of our sins, all of 747 00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:50,160 our hurt, all of our pain, all of that. 748 00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:51,800 And to give him our broken heart. 749 00:48:51,800 --> 00:49:00,160 When we say give him our heart, it really is a broken heart. 750 00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:03,400 I just think it's so amazing to think about that. 751 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:04,480 We don't even give him a good heart. 752 00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:05,480 We give him a broken one. 753 00:49:05,480 --> 00:49:06,480 The broken one, yeah. 754 00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:07,800 It's not even a good one. 755 00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:12,120 Which is what he really asks of us. 756 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:20,280 So I hope this Christmas season that we can see Christ in any form, even the X. 757 00:49:20,280 --> 00:49:22,600 Yeah, I'm glad you shared that with me. 758 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:31,560 Even the X or anything else, it should really be centered in Christ. 759 00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:38,640 Maybe we need to consider changing up some of our traditions, some of our celebrations, 760 00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:46,160 then to just make sure that our thoughts and our lives and everything about Christmas is 761 00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:48,960 centered in Jesus Christ. 762 00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:54,440 You know, we live in a time when we've seen trials and troubles in the world that are 763 00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:56,920 just never before seen. 764 00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:59,280 We are seeing economic times. 765 00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:02,720 We are in a, and this is worldwide. 766 00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:07,040 And I know we have listeners all across the world in 45 different countries. 767 00:50:07,040 --> 00:50:11,040 Actually, we have listeners and I know that this is a phenomenon that's taken place all 768 00:50:11,040 --> 00:50:12,160 over the world. 769 00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:20,320 You know, we have inflation that is at highs that we haven't seen in 41 or 42 years. 770 00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:25,760 And what that means is that retirements are getting shrunk and the dollar's not, or our 771 00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:29,160 currency isn't going as far as it has in the past. 772 00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:36,400 And that's creating some stresses and that can affect a parent's ability to provide a 773 00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:40,360 Christmas that maybe they wanted to provide and all those things. 774 00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:46,760 But I think that when these types of trying times comes, it gives us all an opportunity, 775 00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:50,400 regardless of our affluence or lack thereof. 776 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:54,720 It gives us an opportunity to really consider what you just shared. 777 00:50:54,720 --> 00:51:01,200 You know, the gift, the greatest gift of all, the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 778 00:51:01,200 --> 00:51:07,240 And just as we've talked about so many times when we talk about how do we have His Spirit 779 00:51:07,240 --> 00:51:11,880 to be with us, how do we really work to have Him here? 780 00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,460 When we are in our rock bottoms, how do we get that changed? 781 00:51:15,460 --> 00:51:19,560 And I think in order for us to receive this gift, we have to do the same thing that we 782 00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:20,680 have to do for those. 783 00:51:20,680 --> 00:51:23,400 We have to go and visit and be with Him there. 784 00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:26,760 We have to go to Gethsemane and receive that gift. 785 00:51:26,760 --> 00:51:30,560 We need to go to the cross and receive the gift that continues there. 786 00:51:30,560 --> 00:51:35,000 And even into the garden tomb when the gift of the resurrection and all things being made 787 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:37,680 pure and whole again. 788 00:51:37,680 --> 00:51:42,320 Jesus was born so that He could carry all of that out. 789 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:48,240 And in a few months, we'll be doing again like we did last year, a very special week 790 00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:52,640 on the crucifixion and the resurrection, the Easter time. 791 00:51:52,640 --> 00:51:59,320 But as we start preparing for that, just as He did, I hope that it's in each of us this 792 00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:04,980 year, this time of year, in this year especially, given all given the state of the world and 793 00:52:04,980 --> 00:52:09,360 the economy and all of the things that are troubling so many people. 794 00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:16,120 I hope that we will go to the place where Jesus was, and I hope we'll walk with Him 795 00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:20,480 and we will receive the gift that's priceless above all gifts this year. 796 00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:24,120 Well, Scott, I thank you. 797 00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:25,440 Amen to that. 798 00:52:25,440 --> 00:52:33,440 I think another thing that we can do, which we do, I think most do this, is to really 799 00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:40,800 consider others and how we can help to lift and minister to others. 800 00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:46,400 I think one of my favorite—and I didn't discover this until I was in my twenties—one 801 00:52:46,400 --> 00:52:59,720 of my favorite stories is O'Henry's story of the other wise man or the fourth wise man. 802 00:52:59,720 --> 00:53:06,440 And this story of this fourth wise man who's looking for Jesus and he has all of these 803 00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:12,480 diamonds and all of this money that he's going to bring as part of his gift to Jesus, 804 00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:17,260 and in his search for Jesus, following the star, being separated from the other three 805 00:53:17,260 --> 00:53:23,920 wise men, being delayed because he was serving others, and because he helped this woman and 806 00:53:23,920 --> 00:53:26,800 he helped this caravan and he helped that. 807 00:53:26,800 --> 00:53:33,600 Anyway, he doesn't get there in time and he doesn't find Jesus, as the story goes, 808 00:53:33,600 --> 00:53:37,680 until he's on his way to the cross. 809 00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:43,720 Then 33 years it's taken him to find Jesus. 810 00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:53,600 And it's so sweet how the story ends and Jesus says to him—O'Henry quotes from Matthew 811 00:53:53,600 --> 00:54:01,680 chapter 5 when Jesus looks at this other wise man as he's on his way to the cross—then 812 00:54:01,680 --> 00:54:07,920 he says, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 813 00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:09,400 of the world. 814 00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:13,680 For I was a hungred, and ye gave me meat. 815 00:54:13,680 --> 00:54:17,440 I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. 816 00:54:17,440 --> 00:54:23,160 I was a stranger, and ye took me in naked, and ye clothed me. 817 00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:26,280 I was sick, and ye visited me. 818 00:54:26,280 --> 00:54:31,480 I was imprisoned, and ye came unto me. 819 00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:32,800 I love that message. 820 00:54:32,800 --> 00:54:40,280 I love that story as being part of this time of the year, this season, of reaching out 821 00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:47,600 and helping and serving others, maybe even members of our own family, our own ward who 822 00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:57,480 we can minister to, those who are hurting, those who need an act of love to buoy them 823 00:54:57,480 --> 00:54:59,120 up this time of year. 824 00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:05,440 I think those are also gifts that when we give them to others, when we go to the prison, 825 00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:12,360 we visit the prisoners, and we go to the homeless, and we go to those who are needy, that's 826 00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:15,880 a gift to Jesus himself. 827 00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:21,360 Because this other wise man, he'd spent his whole inheritance helping others along the 828 00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:22,360 way. 829 00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:25,720 Here he is, he finds Jesus on his way to the cross. 830 00:55:25,720 --> 00:55:28,240 And he has nothing left to give him. 831 00:55:28,240 --> 00:55:30,200 And nothing to give him. 832 00:55:30,200 --> 00:55:35,600 And Jesus says, come and inherit the mansions of my father. 833 00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:37,000 You've given me your all. 834 00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:41,840 You've given me everything because you gave it to others. 835 00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:48,880 And I think that's an important message that we should consider this Christmas time as 836 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:49,880 well. 837 00:55:49,880 --> 00:55:54,760 I think some of the best Christmases we've had in our family is one year how we didn't 838 00:55:54,760 --> 00:55:57,040 give gifts to one another. 839 00:55:57,040 --> 00:56:07,200 We took all of the money and bought gifts and kind of had found a family that lived 840 00:56:07,200 --> 00:56:13,560 in a poor area of town and identified a family and all of us took gifts and sacks to this 841 00:56:13,560 --> 00:56:19,080 family and left it on their porch. 842 00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:26,000 I think those are some of the more meaningful, memorable Christmases that we can really feel 843 00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:29,000 this true spirit of Christmas. 844 00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:35,880 And I just had this thought around gifts because as you talk about those gifts, I think sometimes 845 00:56:35,880 --> 00:56:42,840 for some of us it's easier for us to give gifts than it is to receive. 846 00:56:42,840 --> 00:56:47,840 But I think that Christmas isn't Christmas unless we learn to receive too, right? 847 00:56:47,840 --> 00:56:52,920 And to receive that gift, the greatest gift that's been provided to anybody at any time, 848 00:56:52,920 --> 00:56:59,720 well to all of us at all times through the atonement of Jesus Christ, that's what Christmas 849 00:56:59,720 --> 00:57:02,240 is, is that gift. 850 00:57:02,240 --> 00:57:09,040 And as we talked about in past podcasts, we talked about how do we become more Christ-like 851 00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:14,480 and we talked about, well, by forgiving others, that's one way that we can become more Christ-like 852 00:57:14,480 --> 00:57:21,440 and by going to the garden where he was and the cross where he was and studying about 853 00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:22,440 him. 854 00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:28,200 But we really learn to be more like somebody when we emulate them. 855 00:57:28,200 --> 00:57:35,480 And when we're giving, when we are giving and when we are actually also receiving, we 856 00:57:35,480 --> 00:57:40,160 are really walking then as Jesus would have us walk during this time of year, David. 857 00:57:40,160 --> 00:57:45,320 Well, I love that scripture in King Benjamin's address. 858 00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:51,120 How can you know the master if you haven't served him? 859 00:57:51,120 --> 00:57:56,640 And then he says, if you have served others, you have served me. 860 00:57:56,640 --> 00:58:05,080 So I think to come to know Jesus, we have to be engaged in his work, the work of salvation 861 00:58:05,080 --> 00:58:07,040 and helping to serve others. 862 00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:12,200 And maybe this scripture comes to my mind in just concluding here, thinking about what 863 00:58:12,200 --> 00:58:20,880 can we give Jesus, perhaps maybe an ultimate verse of scripture on what can we give him, 864 00:58:20,880 --> 00:58:22,520 what can we offer him. 865 00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:28,520 I love this scripture in Omni verse 26. 866 00:58:28,520 --> 00:58:34,720 And now my beloved brethren and sisters, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who 867 00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:44,080 is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation and the power of his redemption. 868 00:58:44,080 --> 00:58:45,080 What gifts? 869 00:58:45,080 --> 00:58:55,640 Yea, come unto him and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting 870 00:58:55,640 --> 00:59:04,240 and prayer, and endure to the end, and as the Lord liveth, ye will be saved. 871 00:59:04,240 --> 00:59:13,920 So Merry Christmas everybody, and we will do another special podcast next week as we 872 00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:18,800 review the historical events of the first Christmas. 873 00:59:18,800 --> 00:59:26,800 And I look forward to doing that then, Scott, just a few days before Christmas or the week 874 00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:27,800 of Christmas. 875 00:59:27,800 --> 00:59:32,840 Our intention behind doing two episodes just prior to Christmas is the intent behind this 876 00:59:32,840 --> 00:59:40,280 one I think is that it begins to put our minds in line with what is it that we should be 877 00:59:40,280 --> 00:59:41,280 doing. 878 00:59:41,280 --> 00:59:46,240 What can I, Scott Durfee, do and what can you, each of our listeners, do to invite him 879 00:59:46,240 --> 00:59:49,680 more into our lives during this time of year. 880 00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:55,840 And then the other thing that we also must at the same time consider is what is it in 881 00:59:55,840 --> 00:59:58,920 my life that I am willing to give him? 882 00:59:58,920 --> 00:59:59,920 What sins? 883 00:59:59,920 --> 01:00:08,760 As King Lamone, his father, what sins am I willing, what habits, what can I give him? 884 01:00:08,760 --> 01:00:13,040 And as we contemplate that and think about that, we have a perfect opportunity coming 885 01:00:13,040 --> 01:00:19,400 up on Sunday once again as we partake of the sacrament to make that part of our covenant 886 01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:21,440 relationship. 887 01:00:21,440 --> 01:00:25,680 And may God bless us each to do that as we are moving into this. 888 01:00:25,680 --> 01:00:31,280 I look forward to next week when we get into the historical and the first Christmas story 889 01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:33,280 and all of that. 890 01:00:33,280 --> 01:00:37,680 But we did this in preparation for that so that our hearts and our minds can be set on 891 01:00:37,680 --> 01:00:38,680 those things. 892 01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:39,680 Thank you for being with us. 893 01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:40,680 Dave, do you have anything final? 894 01:00:40,680 --> 01:00:41,680 Have a good week everybody. 895 01:00:41,680 --> 01:00:42,680 We'll talk next week. 896 01:00:42,680 --> 01:00:45,680 Yep, look forward to it and until then. 897 01:00:45,680 --> 01:00:49,400 Enjoying the spirit of the season, the reason for the season. 898 01:00:49,400 --> 01:00:51,160 May God be with you always. 899 01:00:51,160 --> 01:00:54,240 May you remember that you have been redeemed through His blood. 900 01:00:54,240 --> 01:01:11,880 Thanks for being with us.